Only 70 days and counting until the 2014 Blue Ridge Relay, September 5-6! Here’s an update on a few items…
TEAMS
We’ve got 32 teams hard committed to the 2014 BRR (that’s 20% of the entire field – time for a name change to F3 BRR?)!
List of F3 teams includes:
- F3 12 Mortified Goats
- F3 Adult Supervision Required
- F3 Altered States
- F3 Brothers From Another Muthaship
- F3 Columbia Blue
- F3 Columbia Shield
- F3 Double Digit Dozen
- F3 Flatnnin the Hills
- F3 Fourplay
- F3 Free Range
- F3 Goat Rodeo
- F3 GONADS NINE
- F3 Government Cheese
- F3 Haul’N Arse
- F3 Isotope 9
- F3 Lean
- F3 Lost Weekend
- F3 Main Thang
- F3 Mercury’s Minions
- F3 Monkeys
- F3 NoCo 12 Man #2
- Paperboy
- F3 Ridge Runners
- F3 The Fort #9
- F3 There Will Be Beer
- F3 True Grit
- F3 Two Thirds
- F3 Ultra
- F3 Up’N Over
- F3 VI
- F3 Winston-Salem
- F3 WTF3
If you are still interested and are not already assigned to a team, send an email to the regional captains below and we will do our best to place you on a team as an alternate. Team captains – use the comments section below to everyone know if you need alternates. While the BRR field has reached its cap, there is a waiting list for new teams.
- Raleigh – Flatline – kevin.powell.jr@gmail.com
- Columbia – Chaser – pjr@swblaw.com
- CLT – Metro Fa So La – matt@doerreconstruction.com
- CLT – A51 – Baracus – brian.t.anderson@bankofamerica.com
- CLT – NoCo – Kumquat – dudley-matthew@aramark.com
- The Fort – DD – dan.janick@gmail.com
Team captains must send their final rosters to BRR by August 5th. Substitutions can be made after that time, but BRR charges $10 per change.
TRAINING
If you haven’t started laying down the miles – better start now! Here’s a link to a sample BRR Training Plan for 9 and 12 man teams – just a sample to give you some guidance about mileage you might want to target to get in each week. There’s no magic formula to this though – I think most experienced runners would say that in preparing for long distance races, it is most important to get in at least one LONG SLOW DISTANCE (LSD) run per week. You also want to get in at least 2 shorter tempo / race pace runs per week. Combine that with a few F3 bootcamp style workouts for cross-training and you will be set.
Aside from getting in the distance each week, the best things you can do to target your training for BRR are:
- Run Hills: Find hills anywhere you can and run them (parking decks?). And run them again. And again. The grade and elevation change of many of the BRR routes is deceiving. When you are heading up that first set of switchbacks, you’ll be glad you trained on hills.
- Practice running multiple times in a day: The trick with the BRR is that you will go and run your individual segment, and then immediately hop in a smelly van and your legs will get very stiff. Then 4-5 hours later, after you’ve downed some fluids and fuel, it’s time to get out and run again. For those of us with day jobs and families, it’s tough to squeeze multiple workouts in a single day. However, I highly encourage it. Starting in July and running until BRR, we will have double or triple down opportunities for CLT pax on Thursdays – details will follow on the website.
- On the course training: Several groups found it helpful to train on the BRR course last year. While summer is a busy time for vacations and travel, a quick Saturday trip to the Asheville area yields runners access to 2 of the hardest legs on the course – legs 31 and 33. Here’s a link to a backblast from 2013 where a small group of pax went to Asheville to train on the BRR course and enjoyed great 2nd F as well. There will not be a sanctioned F3 nation-wide training event this year due to the complexity of logistics for our big group, but teams are encouraged to replicate the trip from last year.
COURSE
For those who haven’t seen the course before, here’s a link to the 2013 Course Description. There will likely be some modifications for 2014, but the general route will not change. UPDATED: Course did change how legs are structured — see 2014 brr course by leg.
Your team captain will need to allocate legs amongst the team members. Here’s a document for the 2013 BRR Time Estimates and Difficulty Index. (UPDATED: Use this one instead — BRR Time Estimates 2014.) This fantastic spreadsheet (courtesy of The Colonel BHWTU) allows you to see the total mileage and difficulty index of each leg of the race for a 6, 9, and 12 man team. Let the negotiations begin.
As a reminder, once you pick an order of runners for your team, you must stick with it for the entire race.
T-SHIRTS
Get your F3 BRR t-shirts at http://f3.mudgear.com/collections/running-gear/products/f3-2014-brr-shirt Order as a team to save on shipping. Order deadline of August 2nd.
GEAR
In addition to your standard running attire (Will talk more about gear recommendations in future posts, but do I recommend bringing an extra pair of fully broken in running shoes), everyone needs to bring their own reflective vest and headlamp. Here’s the text from the BRR website:
“Reflective Vests and Night Gear: While running during nighttime stages, the following must be worn: reflective vest, one flashing light on front, one flashing light on back, and a lit flashlight/headlamp must be carried/worn. When out of the support vehicle, all team-members, support crew, and spectators must wear their vests during nighttime stages. The hours of the nighttime stages are 7:30PM through 7:30AM. Please note: each team member should have a reflective vest! In addition, at the discretion of the exchange zone official, reflective vests and other night gear may be required during inclement weather, such as rain and fog.”
So – to be clear – everyone should bring their own vest and headlamp. The flashing lights can either be shared by the team (clip ons) or you can get a reflective vest that has flashing lights in it.
Our friends at the F3 Gear Store are carrying a selection of reflective vests and headlamps. Remember that a portion of proceeds from purchases at the store go to support F3.
TRANSPORTATION
Your team captain should have already made van reservations for you. You need to pick up the van on Thursday September 4th and return it Saturday night or Sunday.
BRR has a partnership with Enterprise and a discount available. Call 800-RENT-A-CAR and use the account # 53SA320 to receive the Relay discount. Note that Enterprise does not allow Sunday drop offs, so you are stuck paying for an additional day.
CLT pax should contact Adventure Vans and mention Blue Ridge Relay. Have your insurance information available when you call. They know the BRR drill pretty well.
QUESTIONS? – Please contact The Show at F3BRRINFO@GMAIL.COM
